Just want opinions on this prime

[Merlin]

Most often we need a double prime or step prime. I found this prime from Spanish comps I think maybe called monocapa. Just wondering if anyone has experience with it.

 

Single-layer prime 0.30 Potassium perchlorate 0.38 Potassium nitrate 0.14 charcoal, airfloat 0.05 Red gum 0.06 Sulfur 0.09 Black iron oxide 0.15 Magnalium, 63-micron, 230-mesh 0.05 Dextrin

[mabuse00]

What exactly do you want to know?

 

It works very well, lights easily from a very thin BP layer and creates a a lot of hot slag.

 

A good prime.

 

What I dont like is the low burnrate, I feel that Pinball Prime with extra Si and Al lights my stars faster.

Edited August 30, 2016 by mabuse00

[AzoMittle]

Love monocapa. If I remember correctly you only need a single thin layer of it (hence the name).

[Merlin]

I want to know if it is truly a one layer prime that can be used with hard to light stars. I am not sure off hand but I think pinball and fence post both require a outer prime. Is monocopa the be all end all prime or is it to be viewed as another tool in the box of tools?

[AzoMittle]

I want to know if it is truly a one layer prime that can be used with hard to light stars. I am not sure off hand but I think pinball and fence post both require a outer prime. Is monocopa the be all end all prime or is it to be viewed as another tool in the box of tools?

 

I've only been at this for a few years now and haven't made every star and every prime and every combination there of, however, monocapa has worked for everything I have used it for so far. I don't use a paper thin coating but have gotten away with using much less monocapa than I would Veline's superprime or similar. I usually put a light dusting of BP over top and that seems to be all it needs.

 

My usual advice for this: Make a small batch (say 100g at the least, or 1kg, or whatever you consider to be 'small') and pull out a handful of unprimed stars, coat it on and test them out.

[Merlin]

Thanks Azo. I have been using veline super prime and pinball. I had some stars blow blind on the forth. it could have been they weren't primed well enough or because of flash Booster or both. I have since decided to pay a lot closer attention to priming. I have also decided to go with Italian cylinder shells using only BP for burst. The ones I have tested were better than I had hoped. So now I am studying everything I can About primes and application. If you don't have that perfected you are just waiting time, money and labor. Thanks again for your reply. The experience of others speaks volumes.

[braddsn]

Merlin, Jopetes (Jose) that invented this prime is a friend, and has helped me over the past 2 years perfect my priming methods. First, a couple of notes about monocapa: 1) It is a great prime, and of all the primes that I have tried, I have had the best luck with it lighting difficult comps, I recommend it. 2) You can replace the MgAl with dark aluminum, and this will aid even more when breaking shells hard. 3) The most important thing to note is that NO prime will work well unless the right amount is applied. Monocapa is a prime that attempts to be a single layer prime that will work with most stars... but it has limitations like all primes. Monocapa will work as a single layer prime if the shell is not going to be broken too hard. But even Jose explained to me that if you want 100% ignition all the time, you should use it as part of a 2 layer priming system. I shot nearly 400 shells for my 4th of july display, and I had basically 100% ignition with all of my stars.. thanks to following Jose's advice. If you are going to use it as a single layer prime, make sure you are applying it 1mm thick on the star. Cut into the star as you are priming and visually inspect... if there is not enough prime, your star will be travelling too fast when the prime burns off and can blow out. Here is how I prime my stars to get 100% ignition: I use .5mm monocapa, followed by a final 1-1.5mm layer of bp+5% silicon. With this method, I can break my shells wildly hard and the stars all light. Also, the monocapa makes a nice layer between color changes, it's what I use as my relay comp.

 

Here is an example of a fairly hard broken shell with a color change:

 

https://youtu.be/A670_WxPCuc?t=7s

[Merlin]

Wow! This is what I will do. Thanks Brad! 400 shells on the 4th is incredible. I take it to be a professional show. I viewed most of the videos on YouTube if you are Brad Dawson. Your shells are incredible and perfect. Thanks. I will use monocapa and BP+ Si for my shells for next year and as you say I will check the coating depth. I had no idea that Jopetes and Jose are the same. It seems he really knows his stuff and has done lots of experimentation to develop formulations,

Thanks for taking the time to explain!

By the way that D1 glitter to blue was unbelievable!!!

Edited August 31, 2016 by Merlin

[braddsn]

Thanks Merlin! I am always trying to find ways to improve my shells, it's a never ending quest! You will have good luck priming this way. Jose (Jopetes) is a great guy and always willing to help. I recommend all of the formulas on the PDF, they are all bright beautiful colors, I and use them almost exclusively. The monocapa prime can certainly be used as a single layer prime in some instances, but as you start boosting breaks, you will need the bp outer layer to get 100% ignition. I noticed that you collect guns and reload? And fly RC airplanes? We have some things in common! I also am a firearm lover, reload my own ammunition, love RC planes, and have my commercial pilots license! Cheers!

Edited August 31, 2016 by braddsn

[dynomike1]

Brad you are one bad mama jama.

[braddsn]

Thank ya Mike!! You're no slouch yourself!!!

[Merlin]

To Brad,

Commercial pilot? Holy cow! It's a wonder you have time for anything! I love airplanes and flying. Had some friends with airplanes and used to fly down to Bham with them to the ANG back when they were flying F4s. Never got a ride on one but it was fun being there. Then they switched to refueling tankers. I did go along on that. We would go to angels 20 and fly a oval pattern and every type fighter would come up to refuel mostly 15s and 16s. Those were the days. Now it's mostly fireworks, guns and RC. Comerical license is quite an accomplishment!

[bigbuck]

braddsn, i am assuming your final layer of bp and silicone is scratch mix? sounds like this will perform well fore veline stars??????

[braddsn]

bigbuck: I personally use ball milled bp for my final layer. Scratch mix will work just as well. And yes, this priming method (.5mm monocapa followed by 1.5mm bp+silicon) works great for Veline stars!

[bigbuck]

thank you braddsn I will try it on my next batch, i believe you stated in above post this will light just about anything,

[MadMat]

Hey Brad, Did you happen to find out from Jose what the purpose of the black iron oxide is the monocapa? I'm asking for two reasons; 1. I love chemistry and am Mr. Curious when it comes to formulas. 2. I am wondering if Red iron oxide would be a viable substitute

Lately, I have been using two step priming, the first layer is Hot Prime: 71% potassium perchlorate 14% charcoal 6% red gum 5% magnalium 4% dextrin. The second layer is simply BP (mill dust with 4% dextrin added). This has been working O.K. for me, but there is always room for improvement.

Edited October 27, 2016 by MadMat

[braddsn]

MadMat, Jose adds the black iron oxide to create molten slag on the star. The molten slag sticks to the star at high speeds and aids in ignition. I am not sure if red iron oxide would be a good replacement. Maybe somebody else can chime in here. The hot prime formula you are using looks great, and if it works, stick with it. You can also replace the MgAl in your hot prime with dark aluminum, this can sometimes increase performance slightly, depending on what you are trying to achieve. The dark aluminum comes in handy when you are breaking shells hard. I use dark aluminum instead of MgAl in my monocapa.

Edited October 30, 2016 by braddsn